Map Scripting

Around the time I started the book, the group of volunteers behind Mapstraction started working on a new, improved version of the open source wrapper library. This is the mapping API I recommend because it allows developers to write code once that works on any mapping provider. Also, I use Mapstraction throughout the book, so I want to see it be successful. So, for the first time, I contributed code to an open source project.

This new version of Mapstraction is now showing up in production on sites around the web. For example, Nestoria, a real estate search engine based in the UK. Nestoria has long used Mapstraction and helped fund its initial development, so it’s not a big surprise to see if leading the way with the switch to the new version. What is exciting is that Nestoria was able to decrease a user’s download by 100K by switching to the smarter V2 of Mapstraction.

At the same time, Nestoria also switched mapping providers to the third version of Google Maps. I’m proud to say that Nestoria contracted me to help support this provider in Mapstraction. My thanks go to Ed Freyfogle for the opportunity.

Open microblogging platform Identica recently implemented maps on its service. Any status message that has been geocoded will be displayed on a map. And like Nestoria, it chose Mapstraction V2, another good sign.

Want an introduction to Mapstraction? My Start Here Guide has been updated to use the latest version, or check out the API sandbox.